Srikrishna panel on Telangana begins work in Hyderabad

On its maiden visit to Hyderabad, the Srikrishna Committee, looking into demands for and views against a separate Telangana state, faced protests by pro-Telangana groups but promised to take all groups along.The five-member committee headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna began its work Thursday evening with an informal discussion with leaders of recognised political parties at a dinner hosted by Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan.Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), ruling Congress party’s state president D.Srinivas and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao were among the key leaders who attended the dinner.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Bandaru Dattatreya, Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) chief K. Chiranjeevi, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary K. Narayana and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader B.V. Raghavulu were also presen.Earlier, Srikrishna told reporters that it was only an informal meeting. The two-day visit by a five-member committee is aimed to review the arrangements for consultations with political parties and other groups here.Srikrishna, who had to face protests by pro-Telangana lawyers and activists on his arrival at the airport and also at the Lake View guest house, assured to take every party and group along. “I hope that those who are opposing us today will come to us tomorrow to express their opinion,” he said, adding that nobody should doubt the committee’s sincerity and impartiality.His remarks came a day after the TRS, whose legislators resigned last month to protest terms of reference of the committee, decided to make a representation to the panel.The retired Supreme Court justice said the committee was keen to take the common man’s view in Telangana and other regions of the state. It hopes to complete the process of consultations with political parties and various groups by July 31 and submit its report before Dec 31, the term fixed by the central government, he said.When pointed out that major parties were divided on the issue along regional lines and had more than one opinion on the issue, Srikrishna said the committee was ready to hear any number of opinions from each party.The committee’s member secretary V.K. Duggal said they were receiving an average of 50 memorandums from individuals and groups every day. (thanks to way2online)
======================================================

Anand Sharma invites Malaysian Investments in Infrastructure, Power and Housing Sectors

(PIB NEWS) Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, during a bilateral meeting with Mr. Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry, Malaysia here today has invited Malaysian investments into India in sectors such as infrastructure, power, housing, etc. Both the Ministers discussed ways to enhance India-Malaysia trade and investment. They noted that bilateral trade has grown robustly at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 29 % during the last five years and has crossed the US $ 10 billion mark in 2008-09. During his interaction, Shri Sharma urged the Malaysian Minister to facilitate the conclusion of India-ASEAN Services & Investment Agreement negotiations. The Ministers also discussed the state of play of the Doha Round negotiations at the WTO. Both sides reviewed the status of India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations and noted that two rounds of negotiations have taken place so far. They mandated officials to conclude the CECA negotiations by the end of 2010. The Malaysian Minister invited Shri Sharma to visit Malaysia in June 2010 along with a business delegation, ============================================================

Commemorating International Women’s Day 2010: A backgrounder

(PIB NEWS) The Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, is organising a series of events to commemorate the occasion of International Women’s Day that is celebrated worldwide on the 8th of March every year. In the run up to the International Women’s Day, the following events are being organised on 6th and 7th of March.
06.03.2010
Women’s Leadership Summit,The Women’s Leadership Summit is an attempt by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to showcase achievements of women who have excelled in different fields. This event, the first of its kind, will be inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. Smt. Meira Kumar, the Hon’ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha will deliver a special address on this occasion. Women achievers from diverse fields like the corporate sector, banking, economics, microfinance, media, science, sports, education and law will be present and share their experiences to inspire other women and girls to take on the challenges and excel in their chosen fields. The central theme of the Summit is ‘Inclusive Growth and Empowering Women of Rural India’. This theme is a reflection and reaffirmation of the Government’s commitment to the principle of inclusion that is firmly rooted in our democratic fabric and remains an intrinsic part of our development agenda. With the objective of encouraging debate and discussion on steps required to ensure inclusive growth, two panel discussions will be organised. The panellists, who are achievers in their respective fields, will address the challenges faced by Indian women today in harnessing their potential to become leaders in every arena, be it the family, community, organisation or nation. This Leadership Summit by celebrating the exemplary achievements of women in diverse fields, will motivate women to undertake their own journeys of personal growth.
07.03.2010,
National Consultation on Access to Justice, Relief and Rehabilitation of Rape VictimsIt has been felt that the existing laws on sexual assault don’t address the true nature or deal with various types of sexual assault experienced by women in the country. A Bill aiming to address these gaps is already under consideration. Ministry of Women and Child Development welcomes this step. To take the discussion beyond the existing legislative framework and the need for reforms to other needs of victims, National Consultation on Access to Justice, Relief and Rehabilitation of Rape Victims is being organised on 7th March. The Hon'ble Chief Justice of India and the Hon'ble Minister of Law and Justice will grace the occasion as Chief Guest and Special Plenary Speaker, respectively. The Consultation would have two panel discussions. The first session would focus on 'Legal Framework relating to Sexual Assault.’ This session would be chaired by Hon’ble Justice Ms. Gita Mittal, Judge, High Court of Delhi. The panellists would comprise senior Government Officers, eminent legal practitioners as well as civil society organizations who have demonstrated commitment in ensuring gender justice and equality through activism and advocacy. The objective of the panel discussion would be to elicit opinions within the legislative domain on provisions that need reform as well as to identify new provisions that are gender specific.The second session would be a panel discussion on proposed ‘Scheme for Relief to and Rehabilitation of Victims of Rape'. Hon’ble Justice Ruma Pal, former Judge, Supreme Court of India would chair the session. The panel members would comprise eminent persons who have experience of dealing with various aspects of the issue. The proposed scheme is under formulation in the Ministry to provide relief to victims and facilitate their rehabilitation by providing assistance to overcome the physical and psychological trauma as well as economic hardship.
======================================================

‘Paid News’ issue raised in Rajya Sabha under Calling Attention Motion

(PIB NEWS) The‘Paid News’ issue was raised in Rajya Sabha today under Calling Attention Notice tabled by Shri Sitaram Yechury regarding the role of print and electronic media indulging in paid news in disguise as news. The text of Minister of Information & Broadcasting Smt. Ambika Soni’s statement made in response to the Calling Attention Notice is as follows: “The Government is committed to ensuring the right to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution of India. In pursuance of this objective of preserving the freedom of press and maintaining and improving the standard of newspapers in India and to inculcate the principles of self regulation among the press, the Press Council of India (PCI), an autonomous body was set up under the Press Council Act, 1978. The PCI has developed Norms of Journalistic Conduct that cover the principles and ethics regarding journalism. PCI has also laid down guidelines on reporting of specific issues of public and national importance. In 1996, it drew up a set of guidelines that are particularly applicable to financial journalism. PCI has also issued guidelines on reporting of elections. In recent months, however, there have been a number of media reports that sections of the electronic and print media have received monetary considerations for publishing or broadcasting in favour of particular individuals or organizations or corporate entities, what is essentially “advertisement” disguised as “news”. This has been commonly referred to as the “paid news syndrome”. While this is not a new phenomenon, it has attracted greater public attention of late and is being widely discussed and debated across the country. It has been reported that the owners of some media organizations have financial relationships, including share-holdings, with advertisers. Further, cases have been reported wherein identical articles with photographs and headlines have appeared in competing publications carrying bylines of different authors or sometimes even without bylines, around the same time. On the same page of specific newspapers, articles have been printed during elections, projecting rival candidates, both as winning candidates! While it is widely agreed that it is not easy to find proof for such malpractices, there exists strong circumstantial evidence. It is, however, very commendable that this issue of “paid news” has been vigorously raised by some sections of the media themselves. The Editors Guild of India has in its press note on this issue dated 23.12.2009 condemned this unethical practice and called upon all editors of the country to desist from publishing any form of advertisements which masquerade as news. They went on to say that it is imperative that news organizations clearly distinguish between news and advertisements with full and proper disclosure norms, so that no reader and viewer is tricked by any subterfuge of advertisements published and broadcast in the same format, language and style of news. The Indian Women Press Corp, a body of working women journalists from print, TV and online media are also highlighting this issue in a seminar being held in a few days from now in order to build an opinion against this malpractice. The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (A.P.U.W.J.) conducted a detailed sample survey to highlight the manner in which newspapers had published “paid news” items. A number of senior journalists have formally complained about the phenomenon of “paid news” to the Press Council of India and the Election Commission of India. In view of all this, the PCI has constituted a Sub-Committee to consider this issue and collect evidence from stakeholders, including the Election Commission of India. The representatives of Election Commission of India in their interaction with the Sub-Committee on 16.12.2009 desired the Council to define what constituted “paid news” so that expenditure incurred by the political parties and the candidates become accountable. The Committee has also met representatives of Indian Newspapers Society (INS) and Indian Language Newspapers Association (ILNA). The Committee also held its meeting at Mumbai on 27th & 28th January 2010 to interact with the stake holders. As part of evidence gathering exercise, the Committee also visited Hyderabad on 9th & 10th February, 2010 and met stake-holders. The representatives of A.P.U.W.J. named six newspapers, carrying numerous paid news stories. The report of this Committee is likely to be placed before the Council by the end of March for further action. This phenomenon of “paid news” is therefore, a serious matter as it influences the functioning of a free press. The media, acts as a repository of public trust for conveying correct and true information to the people. However, when paid information is presented as news content, it could mislead the public and thereby hamper their judgment to form a correct opinion. Thus, there is no denying the fact that there is an urgent need to protect public’s right to correct and unbiased information. It is important that all sections of society should introspect on this issue as it has wide ranging implications for our democratic structure.”
======================================================